The Takeaway host John Hockenberry

Credit: www.thetakeaway.org

Help Pen The People's Poem for The Inaguration

It’s not often that poetry get’s a moment in the spotlight, but on January 21st, poet Richard Blanco will join the likes of Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, taking a national stage to recite what will be the country’s fifth inaugural poem.

Well our friends at The Takeaway are seizing the moment and running with it. More to the point, they are asking you to run with it - by crowdsourcing a “People’s Poem” for this inauguration. They invited noted poet Kwame Dawes to kick things off with a title (Hope) and a first line:

Say “nation.” In the wake of quarrels, say “hope”

The rest is up to you. Tweet @thetakeaway with the line you’d write next. And always use the hashtag#prezpoem — that way we’ll know what you’ve written — and so will everyone else.

Today on BPR, The Takeaway host John Hockenberry joined us to explain more about the idea, read some submissions and wax rhapsodic about the Surrealist movement.